Could this much fraud, especially involving a favorite group of Minnesota Democrats, commit that much fraud without the Governor and AG knowing about it, especially when they were warned?
Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and state Attorney General Keith Ellison knew of billions of dollars in benefit fraud “much earlier than they led the public to believe” — and allowed whistleblowers who flagged it to suffer retaliation, according to a stunning report released Monday.
The Walz administration “retaliated against employees who tried to raise concerns, going to great lengths to keep them quiet, including intimidation through regular check-ins with high-level agency officials and threats of military surveillance,” the report revealed.
More than 30 whistleblowers spoke with the panel to help compile the report — including several who were threatened with “military surveillance” by deputy assistant commissioner Emmanuel Nwala at a behavioral health agency. (snip)
And despite receiving repeated warnings about the swindle, Walz and his team “repeatedly failed to act,” costing taxpayers dearly, the GOP-led House Oversight Committee concluded in its 205-page report.
“Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison are responsible for one of the most stunning oversight failures this Committee has ever examined,” Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) said in a statement.
“Billions of dollars were stolen because Minnesota state leaders turned a blind eye to rampant fraud and retaliated against state employees who dared to raise concerns,” he added. “It is now clear the Walz Administration chose to protect the system rather than protect the taxpayer.”
It’s a hell of an article, well worth the read, which is unsurprisingly missing from the NY Times, Washington Post, LA Times, and so many big media outlets. CNN doesn’t cover the report, except in passing in this article
Vice President JD Vance, who leads the White House anti-fraud task force, has referred allegations of complicity surrounding fraud in Minnesota, including against Democratic Gov. Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison, to the Department of Justice for criminal investigation.
The criminal referral stems from a House Oversight Committee report on an ongoing investigation that alleges “fraud warnings were elevated to senior levels of the Minnesota state government, meaningful corrective action was delayed or avoided, and payments continued long after credible red flags emerged.”
Detailing the report in a letter to Vance on Sunday, House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer encouraged the vice president’s task force “to direct the appropriate executive branch agencies to conduct a thorough review of all of Minnesota’s social services program integrity measures, oversight processes, reimbursements, and enrollment from 2019 to the present.”
“Minnesota state officials are not above the law, and if they facilitated fraud, lied under oath about what they knew, or harassed and intimated whistleblowers, they must face justice,” Vance said on X.
Will the investigation find evidence that they were part of the fraud, receiving kickbacks? Time will tell.
(Fox News) Vance made the announcement during an appearance on Fox News’ “Jesse Watters Primetime” when he was asked about a report released by the House Oversight Committee alleging that state officials, including Walz and Ellison, were warned of fraud in the state but did not take action to stop it in part because of litigation threats and concerns about being accused of discrimination.
“We’re certainly going to investigate this, Jesse, and I guess now I can make a bit of breaking news because I left the White House to come here to do this interview with you. And before I did, we actually referred this particular case to the Department of Justice for a full criminal investigation. We are not going to do what the Biden administration did and make judgments of the law before all the facts are in,” Vance said.
“But here’s what’s particularly troubling about this to me is, Jesse, you had people within Governor Walz’s office who were saying, you know what? This looks like fraud. It looks like these Somalian illegal immigrants are doing something that’s very shady, and then you had people who shut them down, who shut these whistleblowers down and said, you know, you’re a racist or you’re a xenophobe for asking questions about where taxpayer money is going,” he continued.
We’ll see where this goes.
Very well presented. Every quote was awesome and thanks for sharing the content. Keep sharing and keep motivating others.
The “majority report” noted in the far-right NY Putz is from the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, headed by James Comer (R-KY) with 26 Repugs including luminaries Jim Jordan, Paul Gosar, Virgina Foxx, Lorena Boebert, Byron Donald etc. For balance the committee has 21 Dems.
Speaking of fraud – Donald J Trump. No wonder he’s demanding total IRS immunity for himself, his family and his businesses. BILLIONS of $$$$.
Not to mention the taxpayer $$$$ going to his BILLIONAIRE cronies. 1.5 TRILLION $$$$ to defense contractors. Per f’ing year!!
Diaper Don has wasted over $100 BILLION (so far) with his Iran Debacle. That’s over 10 times the “claimed” fraud in Minnesota.
Elwood
Whether or not Trump, or his family, is guilty has nothing to do with fraud in MN. It is apparent that the Guv and his buddy AG Keith knew about it and did nothing to stop it.
Or as said, “Two wrongs don’t make a right.”
James,
It is a politically motivated investigation, and you know it. You can investigate fraud without prosecuting the politicians for “not knowing about it”.
By that “argument” Crooked Donny needs to be prosecuted for pardoning Jan 6 hooligans who later sexually abused children. Should Donny be prosecuted for any and all federal fraud? Why not?
A blonde woman, Aimee Bock, masterminded the MN fraud!
And unsurprisingly Rimjob claims those of us who mostly defend Trump against his mostly-absurd communist propaganda allegations against Trump are “cultists.”
Bwaha! Lolgfy Loser!
MAGA47 Motherfucker!
Throw in Ilhan Omar and they have the Triple Crown of Fraud.
A Somali pirate, a Muslim, and gay Tampon Timmy. What a trio..
Jimmi,
Did you run out of arguments, LOL?
No-he made an argument. You just couldn’t refute it
Jimmi,
I was referring to your “argument”: “A Somali pirate, a Muslim, and gay Tampon Timmy.”
Crooked Donny sells presidential pardons.
We haven’t seen a lot of convictions for dem enemies of Trump
Lotsa investigation fewer grand jury indictments a small small percent of convictions. Yeah you are going to get a jury to convict Walz in MN or DC
If only there was a way for Trump to avoid liberal judges and jurors. Like military courts in Guantanamo
“I was referring to your argument…”. It wasn’t an argument, it was a statement.